Field Report: An Academic Workshop

This field report expresses perfectly the kind of confusion almost all of us experience when entering the field. How do we know whether what we’re doing is “right” or not? What in particular should we record when we don’t have time to write down everything among all the myriad impressions thrusting themselves upon us in a new environment? What is this strange language that people in other walks of life take for granted, but which seems so alien to us as outsiders? And how on earth are we to interpret people’s contradictory remarks? This report will warn novices of what’s in store for them, as well as remind experienced fieldworkers of what they’ve been through. I’m sure it will also provide food for thought and the occasional chuckle!